Off-flavors in Big Bad Baptista #8

02 February 2018

Epic Brewing is calling for an immediate withdrawal of a single batch of Big Bad Baptista – Release #8 DEN #4799, which was bottled on 11/9/2017, after receiving several reports over the past few weeks of developing off-flavors in the beer. We are working with our distribution partners and retailers to immediately withdraw as much beer as possible. The following states received Big Bad Baptista – Release #8 DEN #4799:

Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Idaho, the Bay Area of California, and Austin, Texas.

When we received the first complaints we immediately began pulling samples and testing the beer in-house to track down the cause of the issue. Here is what we found:

Through sensory analysis, our team discovered varying levels of a buttery, off-flavors from nearly undetectable to overwhelming levels, thus confirming the reports that had been sent to us by consumers.

The micro-testing we conducted confirmed a bacterial presence in both the bottles and kegs that were sampled. Samples have been sent to a third-party lab for further identification of the bacteria strain. This bacterial infection results in flavor issues with the beer, but is not harmful.

Our protocol for every beer we release is to run both sensory and microbiological analysis on each batch before it’s packaged, screening for off-flavors and possible beer spoilers. Regrettably, in the case of Big Bad Baptista – Release #8 DEN #4799, our records indicate that our standard testing protocols simply didn’t happen, which was a failure of the system we have in place to prevent these types of issues.

If you are a retailer who has Big Bad Baptista – Release #8 DEN #4799 in stock please contact your local Epic Brewing distributor to have the product replaced or credited. If you are a customer who purchased Big Bad Baptista #8 we have implemented a simple claim process. Please email with the following information:

First & Last NameShipping addressWhen and where the beer with purchasedA photo of the stamped information on the side of the label

We want all of our customers to know we are taking this situation seriously and want the opportunity to make things right with anyone who purchased a bottle or keg of Big Bad Baptista – Release #8 DEN #4799 and we apologize for any disappointment we may have caused.